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The Australian government has approved the $1.3B takeover of Anvil Mining (TSE:AVM) by China-based Minmetals Resources Ltd.
The deal announced on September 30th required approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board for the acquisition.
The Minmentals offer of C$8 per Anvil share in cash represents a 38% premium on the $5.79 price the market was offering before the acquisition was announced last month. Anvil was trading at around $7.83 on Monday.
Anvil’s board has unanimously approved the offer.
Anvil’s key asset is the Kinsevere mine, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result of the acquisition, Minmetals says its annual copper output will grow by 60,000 tonnes per year, an increase of 60%. The Kinsevere mine is expected to have about a 14-year life.
“MMR’s aim is to build an international mining group based on a unique operating model that brings together the skills and experience of an international management team with the long term commitment of a major Chinese corporation as its major shareholder,” Andrew Michelmore, CEO and Executive Director of Minmetal Resources, said at the time of the announcement.
“We believe this acquisition, which will expand MMR’s global footprint and add a pure copper play to our diversified portfolio, will propel us further along that path.”
Minmetals had previously bid for Vancouver-based copper producer Equinox Resources but lost it to Barrick Gold Corp. (TSE:ABX), which paid $7.3 billion. The move was seen as a diversification by gold-centric Barrick into copper.
Photo of the Kinsevere Mine by Anvil Mining Limited.
